You may know South Africa as a barren, dry, wasteland of desert, but what you might not know, is the gradually increasing need for power. As South Africa increases its population, its old ways of harnessing power and electricity are becoming outdated and ineffective. The previous source of power was created though the burning of coal at fossil fuel burning stations. The depletion of coal has come to the need of a new source of power. Soon after burning coal became a burden and nearly impossible, because of the distance that the coal was needed to be transferred from, scientists turned to nuclear power. A power plant powered by nuclear energy has recently been constructed in Cape Town, South Africa, and is an excellent, efficient source of clean power. However, another plant is wanted to be built in Port Elizabeth.
Port Elizabeth is a fairly large city on the southern coast of South Africa that takes in a huge profit through fishing. It is undeniably true that South Africa, along with Port Elizabeth, needs more power, but it is where the new source of power will be located. If a new Nuclear Power Plant will be constructed in the town of Port Elizabeth, it will affect its surroundings in a bad way. No matter how clean the companies claim these new sources of power are, there are always minor disadvantages that over time, will affect the surroundings around the power plants drastically.
As you most likely know, here in San Clemente, California, we have a Nuclear Power Plant of our own, just south of Basilone Road. What many people do not know about this plant is that over a period of time from the day this building was constructed until today, it has been slowly damaging the reef not too far of the shore of this beach city. The result of the affect on the reef left many fish and other sea wildlife homeless, which ultimately decreased the population of the surrounding ocean in Southern California.
Although this new source of power might not affect South Africa in the same way as it affected Southern California, or even at all, we all need to take in to account all the factors and results whether good or bad that this idea could bring. There are so many different factors that come into play when designing a major improvement that will single handedly change the lifestyle of huge amounts of people, and the environment, along with the population of the sea over time.
I believe this Nuclear Power Plant should be built In South Africa, but not in Port Elizabeth. If the Plant was built in some other region that one close to the ocean, it probably will not have as much as a devastating effect on the environment and wildlife, but still improve the production of power in an efficient way. I would hate to see such a diverse region lose such an important part of the lifestyle of many natives.

Towards the end of World War II in the Pacific Theatre, the United States was on the offensive conquering islands closer and closer to Japan by day. The events that officially concluded the war in the Pacific were the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two massively populated cities that both contained military importance in Japan. At the time, President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, had to make the difficult decision whether or not to drop the Atomic Bomb, a newly invented super weapon that was made to induce huge amounts of damage and death to the targeted area, on Japan. The motive behind this decision was because of the unexpected attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, by the Japanese navy, which took many American lives and destroyed much of our navy. Truman decided to drop the bomb, which resulted in the Japanese surrender to American forces. One of the two bombs, “Little Boy,” which was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 killed roughly 90,000-166,000 Japanese military members and civilians. The second bomb, “Fat Man,” dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945 killed between 60,000 and 80,000 people.

The major controversy behind the bombing of Japan was whether or not to help them in the reconstructions needed after the immense destruction and death in both cities afflicted by the explosion and radiation. After the surrender to General Douglas MacArthur he occupied Japan and wanted to strip Japan of its military without spurring on a future war out of retaliation and hate towards The United States. This was a smart choice rather than letting Japan rebuild its empire and getting stronger than before, then acting out in war again. This method was also used in the Treaty of Versailles after WWI when the allied forces penalized Germany for their actions, but at the same time, didn’t want them to struggle to rebuild their nation. Also there is the other approach; let them pay for their actions, and attempt to rebuild their nations by themselves. This may leave hate between nations and come up later in the future, and again risk the event of another World War or some other event of that nature. Even though the allied forces in WWI helped Germany a little and let them grow under their watchful eye, a Second World War occurred.

Maybe we shouldn’t have helped Japan, but at the same time, it was a very bold and respected decision by many nations. Also, it could have left a feud between us and what is now one of our most trusted allies. If it wasn’t for the choices chosen by our leaders at the time, our relationship between Japan could have ended up completely different than what it is today. We helped reform and restructure Japan into a powerful nation of prosperity. Although the actions taken by the U.S. were bold, the Japanese still needed to be punished for they did, and I believe they received a rightful punishment. The events that occurred happened for a reason and worked out to benefit everyone. I wish the conclusion in the European theatre could have ended similarly to the Pacific. Like every war, death is always a factor, and if it wasn’t for the brave people that lost their lives serving their country, history as we know it could have ended up much different, for better or for worse.

WWII-The Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway was a revolutionary event in WWII that changed the style and expectations of war. Midway Island is a fairly small island of the coast of Hawaii, at the time, occupied by the Americans. It is known for its air strip which many allied planes landed on and took off from. This battle was fought between Japan and the United States. It is known as the turning point During WWII in which air and naval combat are introduced. Before the Battle of Midway, war was just being introduced to a fast paced style of war called Blitzkrieg, developed by the Germans. Tanks, and other mechanized weapons such as cars, motorcycles, and other motorized vehicles were used in quick progression on the battlefield. The first use of bombing by planes on allied forces was on Pearl Harbor. But even the severity of Pearl Harbor did not really trigger the use of air on air combat.

This historic battle really was the turning point and initiation to a new idea of faster paced war, in which mass killing and the ridding of the slow stalemate approach to war. A major part in why this battle changed the way we looked at war was the Japanese at the time valuing life differently than the Americans. Many Japanese fighter pilots were willing to sacrifice their lives in order to defeat the enemy. This brings up another controversy about whether or not to attack or kill the defenseless even if they are endangering your life or threatening to attack a naval ship or base.

We can easily say that this battle influenced how we fight war today with the idea of outthinking and out maneuvering your opponent. Also, it brought in the use of massive naval aircraft carriers and other smaller, but still quite huge, ships such as destroyers and scout boats. The way we fight today would not be the same if it wasn’t for the revolutionists who invented the sea-based combat. Although many new advancements were being made in the style and tactics of war, if these circumstances had not been thought out or used in actual war, events such as the bombing of Hiroshima maybe would not have occurred. It is imminent that once the use of high powered machinery and large explosives, along with the use of quickly-paced advancements and wide spread battle grounds, that death tolls and casualties will increase drastically. Once the methods of killing were unleashed in this battle, there was no turning back. Never again would the world see the old ways of slow stalemate or trench warfare.

The Battle of Midway was an extremely important and revolutionary event in the history of the world. It unveiled a whole new outlook on how war is fought and victory is achieved. Not only did it eliminate the old style of war, but increase the rate of war and the death toll. The world as we know it has been impacted greatly by the brilliant and revolutionary thinkers from all time eras. Both the good and the bad have helped develop the world we live in today.

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Adolf Hitler-The Breaking of the Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed between Germany and other European countries and nations, such as France and Britain, after the end of World War 1. It was signed in the Versailles Palace, on June 28, 1919. It also created a League of Nations, whose goal was to keep peace among the different countries in Europe. The primary concern stated in the treaty, was to limit Germany’s power, army, and economy, and ultimately, prevent Germany from spurring on another World War. It did just that. The Treaty of Versailles, if anything, pushed Germany into starting the Second World War. The treaty consisted of many articles, or rules. One of which, Article 231, also named “War Guilt,” basically blamed Germany for the first world war. Because World War 1 was declared the fault of Germany, Germany was forced to pay reparations to the League of Nations. This was a major contribution towards the hatred and vengeance created by Germany towards the other European nations, especially France and Britain.

Although Germany did contribute greatly to World War 1, once many of the problems and arguments were settled, the treaty antagonized Germany and took away many of Germany’s rights, such as an army population maximum of 100,000 soldiers, to reduce the chance of a spontaneous attack by Germany out of vengeance and hatred towards the opposing nations. It wasn’t only the treaty, but also the League of Nations. The League took away enormous amounts of Germany’s land in Africa and the Pacific, and spread the control of the land throughout all other nations in Europe. By the time the Treaty was in full effect, Germany had lost many rights, and was gradually getting angrier and angrier towards its opposing nations. Adolf Hitler, an Austrian born Dictator, was in control of Germany. He had long promised to his people that he would undo the effects of the Treaty of Versailles. His official refusal to no longer accept the terms of the treaty was in March of 1935.

Although the League claimed they would handicap Germany’s army with a maximum population, they never followed through with their plans. In a way, this gave Hitler some encouragement to defy the treaty and spur on a resistance. Hitler’s first move in resisting the effect of the Treaty of Versailles was sending his troops into Rhineland, which the treaty stated that no German soldiers were allowed to come within 30 miles of. The French were not ready to start another war, so they did nothing. The only action taken was an appeasement from Britain to Germany. Hitler stated to the League of Nations that he would have reduced his resistance or even stopped all defying of the Treaty and abide by the articles, if France and Britain had stood up to him. In a way, the French and British talked the talk, but did not back it up when someone did something about it.

The Treaty of Versailles, along with the League of Nations, did not handicap the German Empire. If anything, it provided a realization that Hitler could do anything, and have other countries not do anything in return. As he slowly and gradually tested the Treaty of Versailles and its articles, he realized it actually helped him. He found ways to evade the rules and make them work to his advantage. For example: A maximum of 100,000 soldiers in Germany’s army. Hitler realized that by making a program for training young men military techniques and survival skills, along with basic fighting styles and other militaristic values, without creating a registered army, he was slipping through the soldier maximum limit. He was not creating an army, just preparing one in case of a time where the rules were needed to be broken.

The Treaty of Versailles empowered Adolf Hitler to test the will of the League of Nations, and all other European countries. If the League of Nations had enforced their goals and hopes for the Treaty of Versailles, maybe Adolf Hitler would never have spurred on World War 2, and the lives of millions would not have been claimed from hate and war.